


What Friends ( And Almost Lovers ) Do

by KnownAsEmrys



Series: Trick Flufffest 2k19 [2]
Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: AU Where The Ranch Wasn't Overrun, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash, Sickfic, Trick Flufffest 2k19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 13:58:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18740446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnownAsEmrys/pseuds/KnownAsEmrys
Summary: Nick wakes up with a stomach bug, and Troy takes it upon himself to care for him.





	What Friends ( And Almost Lovers ) Do

Nick wakes up in the middle of the night and has to rush to the bathroom, barely getting to the toilet in time to vomit into it. He groans loudly and stays there for about ten minutes, throwing up two more times before he gets up.

He drinks some water, brushes his teeth and crawls back into bed. 

A few hours later a relentless banging on his front door wakes him, followed by a shout of, "Wake up, Clark! It's time for patrol!" 

Nick groans, and though it upsets his stomach, he forces himself to get to his feet and shamble over to the door as the banging starts up again. 

"You look like shit," is the first thing Troy says when he opens the door. 

Nick snorts. "I'm sick. What's _your_ excuse?"

Troy huffs a laugh. "I take it you're not coming then?"

Nick shakes his head. 

"All right, but you’re helping me with the harvest next week to make up for it."

"Yeah, whatever," Nick mutters. 

"What's wrong with you anyway?" Troy asks, eyeing him curiously. 

"Upset stomach."

Troy nods. "Right. Well...feel better, Nicky."

"Thanks." Nick says. He waits until Troy's turned to leave before he shuts the door and crawls back into bed. 

He lasts five minutes before he throws up again over the side of his bed. He grabs the towel he used after his shower from the floor and throws it over the puke - too drained to clean it up properly - then falls back asleep. He proceeds to wake up three more times and vomit directly onto the towel. 

 

* * *

 

When Nick wakes up yet again, it's a relief when he doesn't feel the urge to puke and he sighs. He still feels like shit, too hot and weak, but it's a start. 

A noise from the bathroom draws his attention and he frowns. 

He sits up, his stomach protesting the change in position. To his surprise, the puke has all been cleaned up and in it's place sits a small trash bin. 

He sees a glass of water and a small box of Pepto Bismol on his nightstand. He doesn't hesitate to drink the water, guzzling half of it before he finally calls out, "Hello?!"

A few seconds later Troy walks in. "Feeling better?" He asks. 

Nick frowns. "Did...did you _break_ into my house?" 

"Is it really breaking in if you forgot to lock the door?" Troy counters.

Nick snorts and drinks more water, his throat still too dry to pursue an argument. 

Troy nods over to the small table in the corner. "Brought you some soup."

Nick stares over at the thermos on the table, blinking in disbelief. " _Why_?" He asks, shifting his gaze to Troy. 

Troy shrugs. "You need to eat, don't you?"

Nick sets his water on the table and grabs the medicine. "So let me get this straight - you broke into my house so you could bring me soup and medicine and then you cleaned up my puke?"

"It was stinking up the place." Troy answers casually. 

" _Why_ are you being so nice to me?" Nick asks as he opens the box. 

Troy looks around nervously before he answers with, "That's what friends do, right?" 

Nick narrows his eyes, suspicious of the other man's intentions, but he still says, "Right," because he can't think of a single nefarious reason for bringing someone soup. Well, except for poison but that didn't really seem like Troy's style. 

"How did the patrol go?" Nick asks after he's finally popped two pills in his mouth. 

"Fine. Dealt with some stray infected, but other than that it was pretty boring," Troy tells him, going to sit at the table. 

Nick drinks the last of his water and teasingly asks, "Did you miss me?"

He expects Troy to scoff and say fuck no, but he doesn't. Instead he looks kind of flustered when he replies with, "Why would I?"

Nick finds that curious because it sounds like Troy's deflecting, but he doesn't pry as he gets to his feet. "Be back in a second." 

Troy nods. 

He uses the restroom, then brushes his teeth, noticing his towel soaking in the tub. He smiles because when he really thinks about it, it's actually kind of sweet that Troy did all of this for him...well, minus the barging in uninvited thing. 

When he returns to the main room, Troy's scratching the table with his thumbnail, a common gesture for when he's bored. 

"Thank you," Nick says as he joins him. 

Troy offers him a friendly smile. "You’re welcome, Nicky."

Nick smiles back, then uncaps the thermos, pouring a little bit of chicken noodle soup into the lid. He needs to test if he can even keep it down first. He sips at it cautiously. It feels nice and warm in his stomach. 

"Want some more water?" Troy asks. 

Nick nods and Troy goes to fill up his glass. He has to admit, as weird as it feel to have Troy taking care of him, he kind of likes it. 

Troy returns about thirty seconds later and hands him the glass. "I have to go feed the chickens, but do you need anything before I leave?"

Nick shakes his head. 

Troy gestures to the thermos. "I'll bring you something better after dinner."

"Can you bring me something better to drink too?" Nick asks. 

"Does it matter what?"

"No."

"I'll see you later then," Troy says. He pats Nick's shoulder as he walks past and then he's gone a few seconds later.  

Nick catches himself smiling, a big pleased one he can't seem to get off his face because despite all the shit Troy always said to him, he actually did care about Nick and his well-being. He couldn't imagine Troy doing anything like this for anyone else except for maybe Jake. 

Nick caps the thermos and takes his water with him as goes back to his bed. He takes a couple sips then exchanges it on the nightstand for a book of poetry Troy gave him in jest before getting back in bed. 

About twenty minutes later he throws up into his trash can, but the medicine seems to kick in about ten minutes later, his stomach finally settling. He spends the rest of the day reading and occasionally eating in little spurts, managing to keep it down. 

He's really sleepy by the time Troy finally comes back around - knocking on the door and waiting for permission to be let in this time. He's changed into his casual attire and now has a huge white bandage on his face - a bit of blood soaking through it.

"What the hell happened to you?" Nick asks. 

Troy goes over to the table to set down another thermos and a steaming mug. "Chicken scratched me."

Nick gets off the bed - relieved when his stomach doesn't protest - and walks into Troy's personal space, grabbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger and making him look directly at him. He peels the bandage back to take a look at the the three deep claw marks marring the soft skin of Troy's cheek. 

"That looks like it hurt," Nick comments before putting the bandage back in place. "What'd you do to the chicken to deserve that?"

Troy huffs as he meets his gaze. "What makes you think _I_ did anything?"

Nick quirks his brow and Troy rolls his eyes. 

" _Fine_. I cut it's head off so I could make you chicken broth and it flew into my face before it finally died."

Nick tilts his head. "You...you _made_ me chicken broth?"

Troy blushes and looks away. "Yeah, and?"

Nick grins, thinking how cute Troy looks when he's embarrassed. "That's unexpectedly sweet of you."

Troy's blush intensifies. "Just want to make sure you get better," he mumbles before going to sit down. 

Nick takes his seat, grin still in place as he opens the thermos and fills the cap. There's bits of chicken and noodles in the thick broth and it tastes _amazing_. 

"I didn't know you could cook," Nick comments before he drinks more. 

Troy shrugs, seemingly unable to look at Nick. "Kind of had to learn when Jake went off to school. It's not like my father was going to."

Nick feels guilt prickle his skin for about half a second, and then it's replaced by indignation. Jeremiah deserved what he got and if not for almost letting everyone die for the sake of his pride, then for the abuse and neglect he put his sons through - Troy in particular. And by how easily Troy had forgiven Nick for killing his father he could only assume the world really was better off without Jeremiah Otto. 

He doesn't give voice to his thoughts however. Instead he says, "It's delicious."

Troy looks at him almost shyly. "You like it?" 

Nick nods. "From now on, you're making this _every_ time I get sick."

Troy perks up at that, his whole face lighting up. "Fine, but you better not get sick often. It's boring as fuck when you’re not around."

Nick chuckles. He sets the cap down and looks at the still steaming mug curiously. "What’s this?"

"Chamomile tea. It's got bits of honey in it." Troy explains. "Thought it might help you sleep."

Nick smiles, hit with a big wave of affection as he looks up at Troy. 

"What?" Troy questions after a few seconds. 

"You care about me."

He sees Troy visibly panic before he sweeps his gaze around the room just to avoid looking at him. "Well you’re my friend, aren't you?"

Nick doesn't know if it's because he's sick or just riding the high of someone taking caring  of him, but he thinks, _I could be more._  

"And you're mine," Nick confirms. 

Troy smiles, but doesn't respond, his gaze landing on the table. 

"Tell me about your day," Nick says before going back to his soup.

Troy fills him in as he eats, eventually meeting his gaze again. It's mostly just him talking about his duties and how boring it all was without Nick since Coop had taken the day off too. It's nice. Really nice actually and Nick wonders why they don't do this normally. 

By the time he's finished his tea, he feels like he’s going to pass out where he sits so he stands up. 

"I'm gonna take my medicine and go to sleep." Nick says, and Troy gets to his feet too. 

"All right, I'll, uh, just clear the table and go."

"No, stay until I fall asleep."

Troy appears to be confused by the request, but he nods anyway.

Nick walks over to his nightstand and takes his pills, then he grabs the book of poetry and gives it to Troy. "Read to me."

Troy snorts. "Want me to tuck you in too?"

 _Yes._  

"Shut up and read me to sleep chicken boy." Nick tells him as he crawls into bed. 

Troy rolls his eyes but an amused grin graces his features. He grabs a chair from the table and sets it next to the bed. 

Nick settles into bed and closes his eyes, listening to Troy read poem after poem until he's almost asleep. He hears Troy stand up and then a few seconds later he feels his hair get pushed off his forehead. 

"Goodnight, Nicky," Troy whispers, then Nick feels a soft kiss to his forehead. 

He’d smile if he wasn't so far gone. 

The last thing he registers before he slips unconscious is the sound of Troy clearing the table.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments appreciated!!


End file.
